Actually, the children mostly didn't bother me -- for the most part, I thought they aged plausibly. Varenus' oldest daughter didn't age enough during the last big time-jump, but otherwise the kids mostly seemed right. (Indeed, Caesarian's aging was what really drove that last jump through to me.)

But I'll agree that it was inconsistent. Indeed, it was mainly Pullo that I had problems with -- while his attitudes aged subtly and well over the course of the series, his looks changed *so* little that it was hard to credit over the long span of the story. But it's a minor enough nit that I'm willing to let it go. And some people aged really well in feel, even if not in look: one of the most dramatic differences in the last jump was the way that Attia's attitude shifts to becoming the truly dangerous bitter old woman. No difference in looks, but she's definitely not the same person any more.

And I must say, I was surprised at how much I loved "old" Octavian -- he goes from merely malajusted in the earlier parts of the story to downright unsettling in the later bits. He's not insane in the later-Caesars sense, but the way he's always *calculating* is just a tad creepy...